I'm really excited to tell you that for the first time, the Big Sur Children’s Writing workshop is doing an ADVANCED edition! This will be a combo of our ever-popular workshop-based format where you can get invaluable feedback on your work, combined with Master Classes on craft. And entry is strictly limited to 32 participants - so it will be very hands-on and very awesome.

And... we are now accepting applications. More info:

BIG SUR ADVANCED CHILDREN’S WRITING WORKSHOP: March 4-6, 2016

The Big Sur Advanced Children's Writing Workshop will be held March 4-6, 2016, at the beautiful Big Sur Lodge in Big Sur California. For 17 years, the Andrea Brown Literary Agency and Henry Miller Library have combined resources to help writers polish their manuscripts to get them ready for publication in a magical environment. Writers work closely with editors, agents and authors throughout the intensive weekend devoted to craft.

Faculty members include Cheryl Klein of Arthur Levine Books/Scholastic Press (Editor of the HARRY POTTER Books in America) and Melissa Manlove, Editor at Chronicle Books. Authors will include NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Lewis Buzbee, Eric Adams and Eric Elfman. Plus, of course, agents from Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Advanced Workshop attendance will be limited to 32 participants, who must send the first chapters ahead for approval into the workshop. One price includes entire workshop, room, food and wine.When: March 4-6, 2016

Twelve-year-old Edward dreams of being a spy, like the hero in his favorite adventure magazine. Instead, he's stuck holding his eccentric family together. When his parents are kidnapped, he leads his sisters and cousin on a mission to rescue them across the danger-filled landscape of nineteenth-century Mars.

Bee is an orphan, alone and starving in a poor, crumbling kingdom. She gets caught stealing a bun from a bakery, and to Bee's surprise, the baker offers her a place at his shop. As she learns to bake, Bee discovers that she has a magical power. When a new friend desperately needs her help against an evil mage, Bee finds out what big adventures can happen with just a little bit of magic.

I had a great time at the American Library Association's midwinter conference in Boston this year. I saw old friends and new, talked to lots of editors and librarians and authors, and scoped out all the amazing books that are soon-to-be published. Now, not a lot of authors come to Midwinter, but luckily, I even got to meet three of my very cool clients for the very first time! [*waves to Emilie Boon, Raul the Third and Stephanie Oakes* -- Love you, gang!]

The most exciting part of Midwinter for me is the ALA Youth Media Awards announcements. This is like the Kids Book Oscars. I have been obsessed with the ALA awards (the most famous of which are the Newbery and Caldecott) since I was a kid; I remember loving a certain homework assignment where we had a poster on which we had to check off a certain number of Newbery books, because I smoked everyone else in my class. ["Oh, really Johnny? You only read five? AMATEUR!"] Now, I am happily part of the nerdy book crew that gets to the convention center at 6:30 am to be in the front of the line. Even in years where I know for a fact that I have nothing that is eligible for one of these awards, just being in the room where they are announced is a positively electrifying experience. [Well, if you are me, it's kind of a damp experience because you are crying most of the time from over-excitement, but hey. I mean, I love these books! I have friends who wrote and edited and repped these books! OF COURSE I'M CRYING! DON'T JUDGE ME!]

ANYWAY, I can now confirm that if you are an agent who has clients who win awards, it's EVEN MORE exciting.

Alex Gino won the first ever Stonewall Book Award in the Children's category for their debut, GEORGE, published by Scholastic. The Stonewall Book Award is given to books of exceptional merit relating to the GLBTQ experience. GEORGE is a joyful and warm middle grade about Melissa, a girl whom the world sees as a boy.

Stephanie Oakes (pictured) was a Morris Award finalist for THE SACRED LIES OF MINNOW BLY, published by Dial/Penguin. The Morris Award celebrates the best Debut YA published in the last year. MINNOW BLY is a shocking, scary, beautifully written and unputdownable story about a girl's escape from a cult.

Though it technically sold before I was his agent, I was cheering when Don Brown nabbed a Sibert Honor for his compelling graphic novel DROWNED CITY: HURRICANE KATRINA AND NEW ORLEANS, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The Sibert medal goes to the most distinguished informational book of the past year.

New Release: MGThe Tiara on the Terraceby Kristen Kittscher

This funny, clever companion to The Wig in the Window is a little bit Nancy Drew, a little bit Miss Congeniality. Tween sleuths Young and Yang must trade their high tops for high heels and infiltrate a famous festival's Royal Court to solve a case. But if they fail, they might just be the next victims...

Now available in paperback:The Wig in the Windowby Kristen Kittscher

If you missed the first adventure of BFF detectives Sophie Young and Grace Yang, WIG IN THE WINDOW is now available in paperback!